Fall!

I’m a few days late but it’s finally officially fall! We’ve had a few cool nights where I have slept with the window open and it’s been so nice. Tomorrow, I’m getting out the rest of my decorations, the ones that are mostly Halloween. 

I took today off work and my sister and I took the kids down to Fan X. It’s early out for school so we caught the 1:07 train down to Salt Lake and went to pick up our wristbands. The kids are still free, which is nice. At that time of day, there is no line to get inside. I don’t know why I like going. I mean, I can totally get behind getting excited about things you like. I don’t recognize most of the costumes, but they are always so fun to see. The kids got a picture with some K-pop demon hunter girls and also saw a bunch of some blue haired girl that they love. 

I guess I think it’s just fun to be part of the geekery and fans. I still can’t justify getting a celebrity picture but I don’t judge those that love to do that. I still really want to get to some of the panels one year. I say that every year and I mark them on the app, and then just don’t go. This year we got there too late for the ones I was actually interested in. We did hit up a K-pop dance party, but I left quickly. There were way too many people in the room and I wasn’t dancing. The kids wanted to try it though. We got to some vendors and artists and I bought a trilogy of books from a UT author that I have been meaning to try. She was really nice to talk to so I was happy to support her and buy her books. ha ha Now I have to actually read them. 

Then we walked over to the mall food court and got dinner and we were able to catch the 6:25 train back home. I get peopled out pretty quickly in those crowds. I think what I would like to try for next year is getting a 2 day pass and going down in the morning one day just to explore exactly what I want to. And then I could go back for a half day with the kids and be happy to do what they want. I’m absolutely fine with what we did today. There’s just so much more going on that we didn’t even get to experience. But more than 4 hours at a time is kind of a lot for me. I guess we need to figure out how to rest up and get out of the crowds and then maybe go back in?  Anyhow, I’ve already blocked off 2 days at work next September. While I don’t want to travel to a bigger con, I love having one in my backyard that I can get to pretty easily. 

A Different Sort of Peach Days

It’s that time of year again: Peach Days. Friday night I met up with my family and we went to the Peach Days carnival. The kids still like going and it’s fun to hang out with the family, even if there are a bunch of other people. I think people are figuring out that Friday night is less crowded than Saturday. There were a lot of people. I hate to think what it looks like today. And then for the first time in quite a few years, I didn’t go up to Brigham at all for the Saturday part. My sister doesn’t have any kids in the parade this year and I just can’t see going up for any other reason. They did go up because my niece had to work at Peach City. I won’t say I’ll never go again, but the big parade doesn’t hold a lot of interest for me as an adult. I was only going to cheer on my nieces and nephew and be with family. I probably could have gone to the quilt show and a few other things and just missed the parade, but there is always next year. 

I slept in and did a little cleaning, then I drove to SL to hit up an indie bookstore I’ve been meaning to go to for a while. Lovebound Library is a romance bookstore, although they do have a little bit of general fiction. It’s a cute store and they do have a nice selection of books, though they are mostly contemporary and romantasy. I picked up 3 new books and spent some time rearranging some of my bookshelves to fit them in where I wanted them. 

It has been fun visiting indie bookstores this year. I still have more to go to than months left in the year but that’s ok. Most of those that are left are going to take some planning to get to. I’ve bought a lot of books I wouldn’t have bought if I weren’t trying to support them. And I’ve got some favorites to go back to. The biggest problem is that none of my favorites are really that close to me and it’s still easier to get my books from bookshop.org or Barnes and Noble. 

I have a little bit of cleaning left to do and I’ll be making a new soup for dinner tonight. But I’m in for the day and am planning on reading. LOL I’m having a bit of book anxiety again with all the shiny new books waiting for me to get to them, plus I keep adding to my KU list. I’ve just got to let it go. I have more books than I’ll ever possibly read and new ones come along constantly. This is just the way life is.

Anyway, it’s been a nice weekend so far. I’ll be seeing family again tomorrow for family dinner. The weekends are always too short. 

Home! Home! Home!

Man, it's been a busy few weeks. I knew it would be when I planned my vacation, but now I'm back and I'm so happy to be home for a while. I slept in my own bed last night again and finally slept through the night. 

I've been in North Carolina for work. I had a weekend home to do laundry and repack between my vacation and work trip. 

It was nice to see my team in person. We were celebrating the retirement for one of my team and that was bittersweet. I will miss her but am also excited for her. Part of the celebration included a pottery class. It was so fun! I really enjoyed it and would love to do it again.

We only made them on the wheel and they will be dried and glazed for us and then I will pick mine up when I go back to Charlotte later this year. It was definitely harder than it looks, but I'd love the chance to do it again when I'm not so focused on making something. Just to learn more of the techniques. It takes way more muscle than I thought to force the clay to move up. 

Next week will also be a bit busy, but I'm looking forward to being back in my routine for a while. 

One More Down

I took my sister and the twins shopping today. The twins birthday is next week and they wanted to pick their own presents. We decided to hit up a mall and an indie bookstore, so we chose to go down to Sandy. Rosie got clothes and Ollie got a dress up and they both got a couple cheap things from Ulta. 

Then we went over to The Printed Garden, which is an indie/used bookstore on my list. Turns out they have a record store in the basement and they were having a big sale and the records had taken over the store and there were a lot of people in there. It was actually pretty fun to browse through everything. I got a couple books and my sister got a few records. So that’s one more checked off the list and July is complete. 

And I think I finally figured out what gallbladder pain feels like. A few months ago, I had a bad stomach ache (I thought) and figured I had eaten something bad. And then I felt a little weird last Sunday and then on Monday by the time I left work, I had the stomach ache back again. But it’s not really in my stomach (although that doesn’t feel good) and it’s a weird pain almost across my ribs. Anyway, I know I have gallstones from a scan that I got last year and the pain lines up pretty well with what I’ve been reading. 

Since I don’t want pain, or surgery right now, I started doing some digging on what I should try to avoid so I’m making some changes to my diet. It’s only been a few days and I know it’s going to be an uphill battle to figure out what to eat for the long term. High fat and high sugar are out so there goes a lot of the stuff I like to binge on. I’m hoping I can get through the leftovers I have frozen and none of those things trigger me. I’d hate to throw out that food. And then I’ve decided to try and eat by the 80/20 rule so that I’m eating better most of the time, and if I figure out what triggers the pain, I will avoid those foods. I’m thinking last Monday, it might have been cheese. Cheese and butter are out right now. And if I’m not eating butter, I won’t make bread or rolls either. (Although its hot and I’m not baking anything!)

Hopefully, I can do this. I’m not trying to be perfect at eating better, but I really don’t want a lot of gallbladder pain and if this is what I have to do to avoid it, then so be it. 

Farmer’s Market

Made it to my first farmer’s market of the year. I met up with my sister and the twins so I knew this one would be the big one that I walked down into all of the vendors and not just the produce section. I got all sunscreened up and met up with them this morning. 

It was a little smoky in the air from a fire, but I got used to it. I got a breakfast burrito and a blackberry mint juice at one of the vendors I like. Forget their name, but they’ve been doing it for a few years now and have good pastries too. I ended up with a bag of cherries, but that’s the only produce I got. I was tempted by the peas, but didn’t make it back to those tables. We got there late, but even between 8:30-9:00 am there were a lot of people.  

I also bought the kids some Nutella covered strawberries and let them get their face painted. LOL the price has gone up, but I said once a year I can do it. That’s not something we really got to do as kids and I always thought I missed out. Of course, now I don’t want it done to me. 

There was also a bookmobile called Withering Hearts that I got a really cute perpetual calendar that counts the books I’ve read this year. It’s now sitting on one of my bookshelves. LOL It’s got the wrong number on it though. I’ll have to fix that. 

And before I left 25th street, I stopped in at The Romantics Archive, which is a new-ish indie bookstore. The did have more than just romance. There was a science fiction and mystery section as well. I bought a book and a little notepad set there. So that’s 2 more indies I’ve supported today and 3 total this month. That’s probably good for June. 

On the way back to the car, I noticed that the Episcopalian Church of the Good Shepherd was open for tours. It’s a beautiful historical building that I’ve always wondered about. So I turned back and walked on in. The guy there let me ring the bell and then told me all about the stained glass and pews. It is a lovely old chapel. He said they also open during the Art Stroll and that seeing the sunset hit the stained glass is a must see. I think I’m going to have to go to the Art Stroll this summer. :)

So I’ve run all my errands and had my fun. I’ve a bunch of laundry to do and want a shower. 

Indie Book Day

Saturday was Indie Bookstore Day. I went with my sister and the twins. Even if I had gone by myself, I knew I wouldn't get that many stores in, so I did not print the map for the book crawl. And that's ok and we totally had fun. I got a couple books for the twins and a couple books for myself. I had a list of books that I wanted to purchase, hoping that would make me not impulse buy a bunch of books, but I didn't need to worry. It was too crowded and I was distracted with the kids so I didn't do a lot of browsing on my own.

Our first stop was The King's English in SLC. I only get there about once a year or less and it's just so much fun. Lots of people there and the space is small so we spent most of the time in the kids section. I did find a book on my list and got a few things for my sister-in-law's birthday. 

Then we went to Weller Bookworks in the old Trolley Square Mall. Even if there's not many retail shops in there any longer, it's still a fun, old building. I did not find anything I wanted to buy in there, but my sister got a few books. I did find a store with stationary and fancy soaps so I finished my sister-in-law's gift shopping. 

We took a break and ate lunch at Liberty Park. It was such a nice day to be outside. 

After lunch and playing around outside, we started for home and made our last stops. The first was the Bountiful D.I. because the kids love going there and getting cheap toys. Then our final bookstore was The Book Garden. It's actually one of my favorites. Again it was busy and I didn't get to browse a lot, but I did get one more book and a candle. I want to go back there soon with a bunch of books I've purged from my library and see if they will buy them. You get store credit and I do like to shop there. 

And then we came home. It was after 5 when I got home so a very full day, and we didn't even get to the indies in our own city. It's ok and they are on my list and I will get to them eventually. 

And today I stayed home to work. I didn't sleep well, but also its raining and I'm loving sitting where I can see and hear the rain. Even if it got warm really fast a couple weeks ago, we've had a few cold days as well. Spring is really glorious. Maybe this coming weekend, I can finally plant flowers!

Spring Break

Woke up this morning to thunder and lightening. And hail. It's been raining but now it's snowing. I'm sick so I guess its a good day to stay home. 

I got back last night from a trip with my sister and the twins. I will say it was a good trip in some ways, but it was also difficult. My nephew has autism with another disorder called PDA. He's such a cute little kid but he goes Jekyll/Hide all the time. He's in therapy and she's doing all she can for him, but that doesn't make it easy to deal with. So yeah, we had some hard times. But there were also good times. I don't want to stop doing stuff with them just because it's difficult at times. 

We flew into Seattle and stayed by the airport at first. We took the train into the city and explored Pike's Market the first day. Then we drove to the peninsula. One day we spent at a state park climbing over rocks and looking in tide pools. I love being on the water like that. It's one of my favorite places. I'm not a sit on the beach type of person, but I love walking and exploring along the water. 

Another day we spent some time in Olympic National Park. It was so beautiful and I want to go back one day.  Took a little walk along Crescent Lake. 

And also did the hike to Marymere Falls. 

It was about 1.5 round trip so not long and not hard. Perfect for kids. I loved just being in a green forest with pine, moss, and ferns. We also explored Port Townsend and Port Angeles. We would have liked to include a ferry ride, but just couldn't fit it in this trip. That's ok. We'll just have to go back!

I felt fine the entire trip, although did get a bit stuffy one night, but I didn't feel sick. Yesterday my nose started running a bit on the flight home but I still didn't feel bad. By the time I went to bed last night, I knew I was getting something. So now I'll just stay home til I feel like leaving. I did pick up a few groceries on the way home so I'm fine and happy to be home in my own bed.

Home, Sweet Home

I love being at home in the quiet. 

I spent last week in North Carolina, traveling for work. The trip was fine, and it was nice to see my team. I got home Thursday night around 8:30 and then worked a half day on Friday. I packed my bag again (differently) and left Friday at 12:30 for a road trip to Escalante, UT with my sister and the twins. 

We had a good time. I don’t think I’ve ever stopped in Escalante before and it was very small. The hotel was good, but there were not many options for food and pretty much everything was closed on Sunday. We had planned ahead and had ramen and other options. 

We did a few small hikes to some Petrified Forest state park, and the Devil’s Garden. And played in the hotel pool in the afternoons. We also did the short hike to Mossy Cave this morning and because it is Presdent’s day, the national parks are free. We stopped at Bryce on the way home. We didn’t stay long, but the wind was blowing and up at 8000 ft, it was cold! Still, it’s beautiful to see and we got our free dollar’s worth. 

Now I’m just sitting here enjoying my quiet, clean, and chaos-free home. I love the kids, but it can be a lot. I have a busy week ahead and this will actually be my only night home until Friday. I have things every night this week. 

We passed the 2 year milestone for mom on the 14th. Still can’t believe she’s gone sometimes. She did love a good road trip though. 

Micro-Adventure #1

I had a really fun day today exploring in my own state. Me and my sister and the twins went to Draper haha. Our first stop was an indie bookstore I’d never heard of until I searched for a bunch in Utah last year. It’s called The Book Box and it was a cute little store. Not huge, and not tons of books in stock, but a lot of newer stuff and I did buy one book. Then we just basically drove down 123000 S and went to a garden center called Cactus & Tropicals. I gave myself a new pot that looks like a stack of books for Christmas and so I needed a plant to fill it. 

The next stop was to the Draper location of Gourmandise and we picked up some dessert to go. I got a slice of chocolate raspberry cake, which I ate for dinner and it was excellent.  After the dessert stop, we went to a Mediterranean place for some wraps and falafel with hummus. It was an excellent choice. 

Then we went to IKEA where we got the kids some food in their food court. By that time we decided not to do the showroom and went straight to the bottom section of the store. I ended up with way too many impulse items: duvet cover, organizer for my bathroom drawer, a new lamp and some small glass vases. I did not need any of it! I definitely need to clean out some stuff to donate now. 

And on our way home, we stopped for milk tea. It was a very fun day and I got to cross another indie bookstore off my list. I can’t say I’m going to make a big day of all of them, but I really would like to try buying my books at local bookstores this year and then Barnes and Noble as the backup choice. I’m going to try to limit the books I get from Amazon to only kindle, and I don’t really need any of those. 

Now I’m ready for bed. I have church at noon this year and while I don’t love it that late, I also won’t mind for a few weeks that I will have slow mornings on Sunday.

Fan X

I had a fun time at Fan X last Friday. I went down to SL on the train with Spencer and Livi and a few of her friends. They were dressed up as Berdly characters. I didn't know who/what that was until they showed me and then I actually saw quite a few of them that I could recognize at the con. 

I only made it to 1 panel and that one was about Snow White and the influence the cartoon has had in 75 years. I wanted to go to others but then my sister came down with the twins and we just hung out and people watched and wandered the vendor floor. It was still fun. 

I've decided next year I may buy a 2 day pass and go to more panels on my own one day and then have fun with friends/family the other day. Or, I talked to one of the volunteers and I might consider volunteering as well. We'll see. 

I didn't spend much money, but I did get some fun chocolate at one of the booths. I ate the Han Solo and it was mint chocolate cookie truffle and very tasty. 

It's cool and feels like Fall this morning. I love it.

Peach Days 2025

It's been a nice weekend, and Brigham City's annual Peach Days. I met up with my family on Friday night and we all had dinner at Peach City since my niece works there. She wanted to wait on us ha ha. It was fun. Then we walked a couple blocks downtown to the carnival and other stuff set up in the street. The temperature was in the 80s so not as bad as some years. By the time we were walking back to the car, it was dark and very pleasant. 

Saturday I slept in and couldn't decide if I wanted to go back to the big parade. Then my sister told me she had bought a dozen donuts and got one for me. I couldn't pass that up ha ha. I stopped by their house and got a ride with my oldest nephew and we were late to the parade, so we didn't get to see my niece with the high school but that's ok. Also, seeing only part of the parade is not a bad thing, in my opinion. Then my sister and I went to the quilt show at the USU extension. It was fun to see all the different quilts. Not a talent I have, or truly want to have. I'll stick with embroidery. 

So yeah, it was fun. When I got home I did laundry. I also switched out my bedding for the fall bedspread and sheets. Peach days is kind of the last summer thing we do and now I'm most definitely ready for cooler temps and darker evenings. My brother gave me some more fresh peaches and now I need to freeze them so they don't go bad. That will be my evening activity, maybe tomorrow night. I'll eat a few more fresh ones and then freeze the rest. 

Cedar City - Part Two

So besides the house, we actually went down there for the theater. This year I saw 4 plays: As You Like It, MacBeth, The Importance of Being Ernest, and A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.

All of them were well done, but I probably like Gentleman and MacBeth the best. The younger kids didn’t go to the theater but we did catch a Greenshow with everyone and we all got to wander around the grounds a bit. I love the whole setup they have there. 

Besides the theater, there were a couple other things that made the trip especially fun. We didn’t plan this because we didn’t know about it, but they have a Renaissance Festival every 3rd week of July and it’s free to go to. So we got to wander around that and see the booths and the kids played in some bounce houses and there was entertainment and food. It was a fun way to spend a couple hours one morning. 

Since we didn’t have a hotel pool this year, we checked and they have an aquatic center and we tried it out and we are never going back to hotel pools again. Ha ha in Cedar City, at least. It was so fun and not expensive for what you get. I think adults were $5 and kids were $4.50. The pool has a big kids playground and then a slide and a lazy river. Plus there is a hot tub and an outdoor pool. Kids and adults had a blast. The lazy river was my favorite part, but the kids playground with the buckets that dump water every so often was also pretty fun. 

The weather was also great. I had thought it would be super hot down south, but it was actually cooler than home. They had some monsoon rainstorms a few of the afternoons, but it never interfered with our plans and it was so nice to see some rain and have the cooler temperatures. 

Since this year was a big year with the house and all the kids and 4 plays, I thought maybe I would take next year off… but then I saw what’s going to be on and have to think about it. I can probably be talked into doing a trip like this again, maybe with even more of the family. But I could also just go down by myself and see a few plays and go home.  So I won’t rule anything out. We for sure want to do this again though. It was truly a great vacation.  

Cedar City - Part One

We did our trip to Cedar City and the Utah Shakespeare Festival this week. It’s one of my favorite things and I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time. This year it was me and my 2 sisters and all their kids (minus one and then plus one from my brother). So nine of us. We decided with the price of 3 hotel rooms, it would be easier to rent an AirBNB. It was a good decision. The house was in a different location than where we are used to staying, but it was actually really easy to get places and close enough to everything we wanted to do. I had a really good time. 

The house was little pricier than we had wanted to spend, but my very frugal sister had love at first site and we talked my other sister into it. The entire house has every room decorated like a different movie. Pictures just don’t do it justice. 

Barbie Room - the twins favorite

The Up room - this was my room

The Star Wars room - one of my sisters stayed here 

The Harry Potter room - one sister and a couple kids slept in the 4 bunk beds -(one bed for each house)

The Pirates of the Caribbean room - my 2 oldest nieces slept here

Then there was the Home Alone bathroom and the Raiders of the Lost Ark living room. Plus a Napoleon Dynamite game room, and a movie theater room that was not even on the listing. Adults and kids alike had so much fun. One of my sisters is planning her own family trip there already and I’m pretty sure we will try to go back. 

I think we counted 8 tvs and then there were games of all kinds and a trampoline in the backyard. As soon as we saw the house, we knew we didn’t need to spend a lot of money on entertainment. 

Truly an experience that was worth a little extra money. 

Lady Bugs & Bookstores

Well, I made it to Saturday. It’s been a really good day.  I met my sister and the twins at the library this morning. They were doing their annual lady bug give away for Earth Day. This year they even gave me my own packet of lady bugs. I also got to switch my library card from a really old one to a new one that is blue and has lady bugs on it. Then I came home and watered my flower garden, which is mostly still dirt right now and put my lady bugs in it. I have a couple perennial plants that are starting to bloom but that’s all. Hopefully some of the lady bugs stayed. It’s still fun. In a few more weeks, I will be able to plant some  annuals and some coleuses. 

Then I headed down south to watch another niece in her soccer game. It’s windy today, but it was still warm enough and it felt really good to be outside in the sun. I’m trying to appreciate this and enjoy it before it gets too hot. Amy and the twins met me down there and we went to lunch afterwards. 

Then because it’s indie bookstore day, I went to a bookstore I’ve never been to in Bountiful. Since I was over half way there for the soccer game, I thought it would be fun to go. It’s called The Book Garden. I found 3 Georgette Heyer books that I don’t have. I’ve been collecting them, but I like the old covers and these 3 were perfect. I also found a small journal that is the same type as one I already have and am using for a travel journal. I’ve almost used it up and was so excited to find this one. It’s got a different cover (both are floral) but same publisher and you can tell they go together. 

Honestly, I did’t know Utah had so many indie bookstores. Now that I’m not buying books at Amazon (print ones anyway) it’s nice to know I have a lot of choices, besides Barnes and Noble. We even have 2 romance only bookstores and one is in Salt Lake. I just didn’t want to go all the way down there today. I’ll get to it soon, I hope. 

So yeah, it’s been a fun day. I did all my cleaning and chores earlier so I could come home and not have to worry about it. The other thing I’ve been doing is that I started a gratitude journal. I have a cute little notebook with books and bookish quotes in it, but it’s not really the right size for journaling or for work so I am now using it to write 1 thing I am grateful for everyday. Or 1 way that I saw God in the details of my life. I’m only about 5 days into it but it really is helping my mental self focus on good things. Or at least be aware that they are there in spite of stressful days at work. 

Fun Saturday

A while back my nephew asked if I would take him and his sister to see Prince of Egypt at the Hale Center Theater and of course I said yes. We went yesterday to the matinee. They got to my house a bit early so we got down there and went into the biggest Barnes and Noble I’ve ever been in. It’s not too far from the theater and I had no idea it was there. Not that I get down that way very often, but it was fun to see. 

The play was good and I always love how they put on a show in a round theater. It won’t ever be a favorite but still I had a good time. I’m pretty much always up for local theater. After, we went to The Cheesecake Factory for a late lunch/early dinner. I haven’t been to that mall or that restaurant in years. I was amazed at how busy it was. I guess people still do go to some malls? I’m also amazed at how busy that restaurant always is. I mean it’s good, but not the best and it’s expensive. It was a special occasion so I had no problems with going. We all got a specialty drink plus cheesecake so the bill was high. Again, a special occasion but I’m glad that I’m making the effort to save and waste less. It feels good. 

I got to bed at a decent time, but it was the time change so of course I’m dragging today. It’s going to be a lazy Sunday and will hopefully include a nap!

Finally, October

Our cold front came in and it finally feels like fall. It’s 66 degrees in my house so I’m baking a frozen pot pie for dinner. LOL I don’t know why but the first time it gets cold in the house, I don’t like to turn the heat on. I’m wrapped up in blankets and having the oven on will warm it up. I slept really well last night with the window cracked and I was buried under the blankets. I love it. 

I went to my uncle’s funeral on Wednesday and it just got me sad again. So I’ve been feeling a little bit down and getting teary at odd moments. Today was a good day though. My sister and I took the twins to the Treehouse Museum to play for a couple hours this morning. Then we went to lunch. We tried a new Thai place on 25th street that serves pho. It was a good pho so now we have a good place in town to get it again.  Then we drove out to a fruit stand on the highway to buy pumpkins. I figured it was kind of like going to a pumpkin patch? LOL But the kids had fun and got to choose their own this year. So now I’ve got my pumpkin. 

So all in all a good fall break and I’ve still got the weekend ahead. And now it’s starting to get dark so I’ve got some comfort lighting on and a fake fireplace on the tv. I’m just going to have a cozy night tonight. I’ve been waiting for this weather all month so I’m going to enjoy all I can. 

Beautiful Day

It’s been such nice weather. My sister and I and the twins got out for a short walk the other evening. The leaves on the mountain trees are starting to change colors. 

Today I went with sisters and some of the kids to Vintage Market Days in Cache Valley. We’ve been a few times before. It’s kind of fun to look around. I bought some cinnamon and sugar dried apples which are very tasty. I also found some cute tea cups and I bought 2 of them. On the way home I got a few new succulents to put in them. If they die, I’ll replace them with air plants. But for now, I have some new additions to my library shelves. 

It was a really nice day to drive through Sardine canyon. The leaves are definitely changing up at that elevation. Plus it was a great temperature for walking around outside. That’s a good thing because I have 2 more miles to go to hit my 75 mile walking challenge and my time period ends tomorrow. I was going to wait until a little later this evening but I think I might put a little sunscreen on and go right now. I only have to walk a mile one way and then back home. I’ve got this!

Peach Days Weekend

It was Peach Days this weekend and my last big summer weekend of the year. I know I said I was going to try to not wish my life away, but I’m tired of the heat and want it to be dark and cold. LOL 

I did have a good weekend. I met up with some family on Friday right after work and we managed to snag an outdoor table at the Maddox drive in so I got a turkey burger, fries and a Dr. Pepper - my go to meal at the drive in. I haven’t had one since mom died because that was something we liked to do together. So it was fun to do with family. Then we went to the carnival and the kids got to go on rides. I didn’t stay long but I got my bag of cotton candy to share. That stuff is kind of gross, but I love to have a couple bites of it every year anyway. 

Saturday I stopped at a new donut place in town and got a dozen donuts to take up to my sister’s house. We met up there to go to the parade. Since none of us live in Brigham any more, hers is the closest to park and carpool. The parade was fine and was only just over an hour, I think. My niece was in it this year so we had to cheer for her when she passed by and she pretended she didn’t hear us. Ha ha.

Then we wandered around a bit before we had to get back to Anna’s so we could go to a family reunion. My aunt June missed mom’s funeral because of a surgery and her and my uncle Sonny were out here. It was nice to see family when we were not at a funeral. 

So a long day, even though it was fun. I was thoroughly hot and sweaty most of the day and felt nasty when I finally made it home. I took a shower and watched movies on my couch last night. And today it’s just been church and maybe later some food prep and dishes. Taking it easy for the most part. 

So a really good weekend with some family time. I’m just really ready for some cooler temperatures and to start feeling like it’s fall. And this year I’ve kind of said whatever and I think I’m just going to do fall earlier than normal. I’ve seen people with pumpkins and fall decorations up and I might be getting some of mine out early as well. I’m going to start my fall reading and movie watching as well. I’ll just have an extra couple weeks of it and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s not like I have that many decorations to begin with. 

Another Fun Vacation

This week I did a quick trip to Cedar City and the Utah Shakespeare Festival. I didn’t go last year so it was fun to go back. It was a little bit different this year because mom wasn't with us. The day we left I did let myself have my moment to feel sad. She would have had fun with all of us. This year my sisters wanted to come so I had Anna and her girls and my other niece Katya for the theater. My other sister came with her 5 year old twins as well. They just did other things while we were in the theater but they had fun sitting on the grass with us to watch the Greenshow.

This year we went to The Winter’s Tale, Much Ado About Nothing, and The 39 Steps. I didn’t know much about The Winter’s Tale, but they did a great job and I understood what was going on. It’s kind of a crazy story and it’s labeled as a “Romance” but you wouldn’t know it from the first act. I knew I would love Much Ado About Nothing, and I did. It was fun to see it on stage. The 39 Steps just sounded fun and it was probably my favorite because I laughed almost all the way through.  

All 3 of my nieces want to go back next year and the season has been announced and they are doing some good ones, so I will probably be planning out that trip as well. 

While I have been on some really great trips, this is probably my favorite vacation. I get to spend time with my favorite people and go to the theater. 

And now, I'm out of things to look forward to. Except for autumn coming. But all this year during the hard stuff, I've had my Canada trip, this trip, and a day at the Uintah's with family as the things that I was looking forward to this summer. I still have some time off coming, but nothing planned for it. I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about the holidays this year, but I do love autumn and now that school is back it's the one thing I'm anticipating...even as it's still 90 degrees outside. Ah well...

Book Goal: Finished

I completed my book reading goal today, officially. I met my # count a few books ago and today I’m at 82 books read so far this year, and all of my different subsets complete: 7 nonfiction, 3 “classics”, 10 paper books I already owned, 5 non-romance, 5 diverse authors, 6 kindle already own, and 5 childhood favorites. I have some thoughts on the whole thing. 

At the beginning of the year it seemed like such a fun challenge and I was excited to find books to fit in each of the categories. It ended being a bit of a bother because I felt I couldn’t always read exactly what I wanted to stay on track with the goal. Hitting 78 books was never really the problem, but getting them in the categories did end up taking some thinking about and pushing off other books. 

I have 958 books on my kindle currently and a lot of them are unread. Going through my kindle was like taking a trip back in time and I can see periods of my life in those books. A lot of books I have read had forgotten about and others I remember buying them and thinking I absolutely had to read them and now I look at them and my tastes have changed and I’m not interested at all. I didn’t even look through all of them to pick out stuff to read so I know there is probably so much I have completely forgotten I have there. 

I do have quite a few paper books sitting on my shelves that I haven’t read and some of the books I really thought I would read this year, just never really appealed. And a couple of them felt like a huge weight was lifted because I finished them. I finally read Circe by Madeline Miller which I had purchased, purged, and repurchased. And now I’m keeping because it was so good and gave me things to think about. LOL

I really like reading non-fiction and will keep reading it. Finding diverse authors was interesting. I did have to make an effort, but there is so much out there to choose from. I initially thought that finding 5 non romance would be hard because I gravitate to having a little bit of romance in the majority of the stuff I read. Turns out it wasn’t that hard. 

I picked some good childhood books to re-read and a couple of them I still love so much. I was surprised to find that Harriet the Spy had a good bit of fat shaming in it which I never noticed it as a kid. I still have all the nostalgia but not sure that one really holds up so well. 

I did find myself looking for smaller books, just so I could keep up, especially with the classics. I didn’t want big tomes this year. It kind of feels like cheating although there is nothing wrong with books of any size. 

So I’ve decided next year there are no goals. It’s going to be a free for all and I want to see where it takes me. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to try new things, but I want to feel free to put books down if they aren’t working, or pick up a really big novel that takes me a month read. I still have a bunch of books on my shelf that I never purge because I’m going to read them “one day”. Well maybe that day will come next year. So my Goodreads goal will probably be somewhere between 12-24 books. Very small just because I like to click on that link and look at my books but I don’t want it to feel restricting at all because I just want to read whatever, whenever. 

Now I’m going to spend this snowy, wet evening with my Christmas lights on and re-reading comfort books and celebrate that I hit my goal and it was good for me to do this year. I found new books and authors and old favorites, which was really the whole point of it all.